Let me tell you my background. Im not in my 20s or 30s. Ive been around the block and have had multiple tickets in the past. Ive been to traffic court quite a few times. Ive been stopped maybe 20 times in my lifetime and dealt with police in different scenarios. Im comfortable around cops. I was even at that Newark Municipal court twice before. Once when I made a left turn where there was a sign and another time for some odd small claims court case where I was a witness. I won in that left turn case proving that the sign was not there legally and I had a letter from the engineers office stating such.
I had been orbiting the airport all day long and dipping into different places to wait. No cops, but at some point in the afternoon the cops came out in force. I was standing in Terminal B when these cops came out of nowhere. I wasnt paying attention and got jumped by 3 cops. Got the no standing ticket. The cops at Terminal C were all very young and looked like they got out of the academy. Fresh faces in their 20s. So I thought I could sneak in this one fare in Terminal C and I tried. I got out of the car smiling shaking the guys hand if I knew him. We get all loaded up when the cops pounce. They dont ask any questions which is a bit disturbing. What if this was my friend? If I ever pick up a buddy at the airport Im going to park in short term from now on BTW. They just started writing me tickets without any hesitation or question asking. These guys were very sharp, but at the same time, irresponsible in their thinking. They should have questioned everyone first before jumping to a conclusion. I felt really sorry for that young family I had to evict out of the car. It was depressing and disappointing. I also felt sorry for the 4 Black guys getting pulled over in the car behind me for something different. They werent getting pulled over for Uber, but being Black and Ubers lawyers wont represent them.
I got 3 tickets because I do carry a fire extinguisher and first aid kit. I knew about these tickets and thought that if I carried those items with me it would be easier for Uber in court defending 3 vs 4. The three tickets I got were For hire w/o proper reg, For hire no liability insurance and For hire without municipal permit. If I had no extinguisher or first aid kit would have gotten one for that too. The for hire without liability insurance will be dropped as Uber does have insurance. The other two tickets will be negotiated and reduced. Uber will probably end up paying 1000 dollars. However, I have also heard these tickets are sometimes dropped because the cop filled them out wrong. In fact, I think the no standing ticket is filled out wrong, but its best just to go ahead and pay that one. Put it in the past and let Ubers lawyers argue the big tickets.
All of the court stuff is now up to Ubers lawyers. Its not for me to worry or think about anymore. Ubers lawyers probably see that Newark Municipal court on a daily or weekly basis in front of the same judge. They are the authority on this issue. As for my "abstract" there are plenty of things on that abstract from years ago and Im not worried about one more thing on there. At this point, Im not young anymore where I worry about abstracts, but I do worry about cash and being able to make it.
